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Any photos not otherwise credited are from the personal collection of Frank Passic, Albion Historian.
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Morning Star, March 14, 2025, pg. 11 It was great to see needed repairs and updates made to our local Michigan Central Railroad depot in Albion over the past several months. The funding for this came from the Cram Family Fund at the Albion Community Foundation. Albion is fortunate to still have an active depot where passenger trains still stop each day. Have you ever wondered, "What was the largest number of persons to embark and leave from Albion on the train at the same time?" Here is the answer: On Friday, May 19, 1939, 850 of our residents left Albion by train all at once! No, they weren't disgruntled, but rather, this was a happy event. On that date the majority of the student body of the Albion Public Schools from the 2nd grade up plus parents, faculty and chaperones left the Albion depot for a field day-trip to Greenfield Village in Dearborn, Michigan. It took twelve railroad cars to transport the entourage to their destination. This massive field trip was the brainchild of the High School "Hi-Y" Club under the leadership of its president, Bud Davis. The trip was a fund raiser for the club treasury, as well as for educational purposes. The train left Albion for Dearborn at 10:15 am. During the train ride there, the Hi-Y boys sold candy bars to raise funds, since they weren't allowed to jack up the price of the railroad ticket for the trip. Some of the Senior boys involved were Elton Amsden, Robert Biewend, Robert Geyer, Aubry Jarvis, Bud Lonergan, R. C. Neal, Victor Nester, David Parker, Howard Rieger, Robert Rieger, William Slowey, Kenneth Stone, Jack H. Vaughn, James Wilkinson, and Norvel Wiselogel. Faculty advisor for the trip was High School biology teacher Vernon Baldwin, who handled scheduling and logistics with the New York Central Railroad. Planning for the trip began in March. Each passenger received a special customized identification coupon assigned by coach, which was exchanged for a railroad ticket on the train itself. The train arrived at the old Smith station at the Village shortly before noon. Upon arrival, each person received a booklet which gave information about the various attractions there, including a comprehensive map of the Village with its 63 buildings. The museum of course was the first stop during the almost five-hours spent there that afternoon. The ambitious students fanned out across the acreage, visiting as many features as they could during their limited time. Attendee Richard Reichow wrote at the time, "Other exhibits were too numerous to mention but they didn't escape the attention of the eager excursionists." At 4:15 that afternoon, the train arrived back in the Village for pick-up loading. Reichow continued, "If you were able to walk by this time it was best to head for the depot and at least be on the train when your legs did give out." The train left the Village at 5 pm, and arrived Albion at 6:45 pm. In all my years of researching Albion history, I have never seen a photograph of this field trip, either at the Village or at the Albion depot, although I am sure photographs were taken. However, one of the popular attractions at Greenfield Village that day was the tin-type photo gallery. Tin-types were a prominent photographic method in the late 19th century, and the gallery there at Greenfield Village allowed patrons to have their photograph taken tin-type style. My mother, Pauline Kulikowski at the time, and her Albion High School class of 1944 classmate Joan Hollinshead (1926-2001, later Mrs. Douglas Ronald Knott of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Her father Kenneth Hollinshead was a professor at Albion College) had their photo taken together. We happen to have that original tin-type taken there in Greenfield Village in our family photo album which I am sharing with my readers this week in our Historical Notebook. My mom is on the left, with Joan on the right. Also illustrated this week is the "Identification Coupon" for the trip that students were given at the beginning of the trip. How many of our readers have any memorabilia or photographs from this 1939 field trip to Greenfield Village?  1939 Tin-type photograph of Pauline Kulikowski and Joan Hollinshead
 "Identification Coupon"
All text copyright, 2025 © all rights reserved Frank Passic
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